September 08, (THEWILL) – The furore over the prevention of footballers in the UK from travelling to represent their countries because of the need to avoid lengthy Quarantine periods upon reentry into the UK has taken another dimension with the football authorities in Brazil triggering a FIFA rule to prevent Brazilian players so affected from appearing for their clubs.
Under FIFA’s regulations, players not released for an international window can be banned for five days after the window ends. This was the trigger that Brazil pulled and the direct implication is that no fewer than eight Premier League players will not be playing for their clubs this weekend.
The South American nation invoked the penalty according to the regulations after the Premier League stopped players from appearing for their country if it meant travelling to Red List countries. Players who ventured into any Red List countries would have had to miss several games on their return because of the 10-day isolation period required under UK rules.
In a case that very nearly derailed Nigeria’s perfect start to the World Cup qualifiers in the Confederation of African Football (CAF) region of qualifiers, the Super Eagles suffered the same fate as several key players of the squad, prevented from joining their teammates in the red-listed Cape Verde, had to return to the UK, leaving the coach to find a winning formula with the team at his disposal.
Since the Super Eagles still earned all three points with the makeshift squad, Nigeria is unlikely to invoke the same bans as Brazil has done. The Brazil ban will affect clubs such as Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea, Manchester United and Leeds United between the period September 10 – 14.
Aside from the ban, which will see these clubs without their Brazilian contingent for EPL games this weekend, Chelsea defender Thiago Silva and Manchester United midfielder Fred will also not be allowed to play in their teams’ opening Champions League games against Zenit St Petersburg and Young Boys next Tuesday, September 14.
There is an exception, however, for Everton in the case of the Brazilian forward Richarlison, who will be allowed to feature for the Toffees against Burnley on Monday. The leniency in that specific case was because Everton allowed Richarlison to play at the Olympic Games when the regulations did not force them to do so.
Even though Nigeria has not pulled the move, eight Premier League clubs will be denied players this weekend because football federations in countries as diverse as Mexico, Paraguay and Chile have asked FIFA to stop Raul Jimenez, Miguel Almiron and Francisco Sierralta, respectively, from playing this weekend at their clubs.
This outcome could have been avoided if the clubs listened when Gianni Infantino, FIFA president, asked the UK government to provide players with exemptions to allow them to honour their international commitments, even if it meant them travelling to red list countries.
This was the same premise argued by Nigerian coach, Gernot Rohr, who pointed to the exceptions England enjoyed during the Euro 2020 competition this year. But, no such exemptions were granted and the countries are pulling some of their weight in return.
As international football continues in October and November windows, there are indications that FIFA is continuing to push for exceptions to avoid likely scenarios cropping up again. In the EPL as well, discussions with impacted stakeholders have begun to fashion the best way out ahead of those windows.
Yet, for many teams, dealing with the country’s five-day penalty while keeping their players in the club rather than travelling is better in the long run than letting them leave with the risk of contracting a virus or getting injured and, if they survive both of those, having them spend 10 days isolating, after which they would need to catch up on fitness work.
At the moment, there has been no reaction from the Nigerian Sports authorities about the issue even though it was one of the most severely hit nations with a good number of the first team squad plying the trade in the UK and forbidden from making the trip to the red-listed Cape Verde.
THEWILL believes every extra pressure counts and that some pushback from significant football countries like Nigeria on the African continent can go a long way in bringing about positive change in limiting the excesses of the football clubs in the country versus club conflict.
About the Author
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
